Surra oversees creation of student constitution

Dominic Surra, a SMAHS social studies teacher, presents the newly created Student Government Constitution to members of the school board on Monday evening. Photo by Amy Cherry.

St. Marys Area High School social studies teacher Dominic Surra presented a new student constitution to members of the St. Marys Area School District Board of School Directors during their regular meeting Monday evening.
Surra was approached by SMAHS Principal Josh Williams to work on the new program, which entailed creating a Student Government Constitution.
While the document was created by students, Surra acted as a guide throughout the process in facilitating debates and discussion brought up during the duration of the project.
"It was an exciting and interesting event to watch. They did a really nice job," Surra said.
Over about four weeks, students worked on the project during their advisory period. Each advisory period class chose a representative for the project.
"They (students) brought up some very valid points. A lot of the stuff they debated about was like the Constitutional Convention, such as who should be able to participate and the type of structure they should choose," Surra explained.
Eventually the students chose a parliamentary style of government and decided to elect numerous executives.
"All of the students voted on it (the constitution) and approved it as a group," Surra said.
The beginning of the constitution states, "We, the students of Saint Marys Area High School, do ordain and establish this constitution to better the student body and administrative relations, encourage communication throughout the student body, develop and strengthen school character, and promote the general welfare of our schools and its students."
For more on this story, see the Jan. 11 edition of The Daily Press.